AccuWeather.com

By Heather Buchman, Meteorologist

Oct 12, 2011; 4:51 AM ET

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The collapsed roof of the Metrodome is shown in this aerial view in Minneapolis on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010. The inflatable roof of the Metrodome collapsed Sunday after a snowstorm that dumped 17 inches on Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

As a Minneapolis native, I know winters are brutal for the Twin Cities with days on end of subzero temperatures and horrendous wind chills. Unfortunately for my fellow Minnesotans, the cold this year could be especially awful.

While Chicago has been marked as the city where the worst of this winter's snow and cold combined will be, the AccuWeather.com Long-Range Forecasting Team is pointing to Minneapolis for the worst of the cold alone.

The La Niña expected to continue through this winter will be largely to blame. La Niñas, which occur when sea surface temperatures across the equatorial central and eastern Pacific are below normal, are usually synonymous with bitterly cold winters in Minnesota and neighboring states.

The Long-Range Forecasting Team expects this winter to be very similar to the La Niña winter of 2008-2009, which featured an early, week-long appearance of subzero temperatures in December and more lengthy frigid, below-zero spells through January and February.

In total, there were 30 days with subzero temperatures, either nighttime lows or daytime highs, that winter from December through February.

This winter, the cold is predicted to come on strong in December. Temperatures are expected to average below normal all winter in Minneapolis but will be the farthest below normal in December.

Gradually, the core of brutally cold air is forecast to shift from the Upper Midwest to the northern Rockies late January into February. So while it will still be colder than normal through February in the Twin Cities, temperatures may not be as far below normal as they will be in December.

As far as snow goes, last winter was one of Minneapolis' snowiest on record with a whopping 87 inches falling at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. One of the most notable snowstorms was the blockbuster that took down the roof of the Metrodome in December.

While the Long-Range Forecasting Team is predicting slightly above-normal snowfall this season, their projected amount of 56 inches is considerably less than last year's 87 inches.

Full Winter Forecast for the Midwest, Great Lakes

Full AccuWeather.com 2011-2012 Winter Forecast